I love experimenting with recipes. I have several “basic recipes” that can be tweaked to suit the mood or the ingredients I have on hand. Mix and Match Muffins is one example. There’s no end to the different combinations you can create in a muffin, particularly if you have a bag of the dry mix on hand.
Pizza is another great recipe to experiment with. Once you have the dough ready, you can vary the toppings at will. Worried that you might not love the flavor combination? Well, divide the dough ball into smaller pieces and experiment with mini pizzas. You’ll get a taste of that new pizza without being stuck eating it all if it’s a train wreck.
Recently, I took some of my favorite flavors and put them on a pizza. And it was delish!
Goat Cheese and Pesto Pizza with Fresh Vegetables
I love baked goat cheese. One of my favorite appetizers involves roasted garlic, baked goat cheese, and sourdough bread. S’pose I should blog that one….
When we go to fancy pizza restaurants where you order individually sized pizzas, the goat cheese pizza is where I land. Always. Every time. Love that flavor.
But, often goat cheese can be expensive. It’s a definite splurge. Unless I find it really cheap on markdown. Then I buy several logs and freeze them. Worked like a charm and I could add a good cheap eat to my pizza at will.
Goat Cheese – Pesto Pizza with Fresh Vegetables
1/4 batch of basic pizza dough
1/3 cup basil pesto
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
2 ounces crumbled herb goat cheese
1/2 tomato, diced
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced red onionPreheat oven to 475°. Prepare dough according to recipe directions. Grease baking pan. Divide dough into four portions and stretch to fit into pan. Freeze the other three balls of dough or make other kinds of pizza, like Cheese or the Jalapeno Burn.
For this pizza, spread pesto over pizza round. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle over the top the goat cheese, the tomato, the red bell pepper, and the onion. Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until crust is crisp and cheese is gooey and golden.
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I adore goat cheese! This pizza looks wonderful and I will have to try it soon. And the appetizer with goat cheese, roasted garlic, and sourdough bread? PLEASE share. Must have.
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i love goat cheese. had some on crackers this past weekend with a hot pepper jelly. addicting.
as for pizza, we tried a new one this weekend. used 1/4 c. ranch dressing for the sauce and added chopped grilled chicken, green onions, diced tomatoes and a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheese. very tasty.
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Jessica Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I’m going to have to try ranch. Never done that before. You think homemade ranch will work?
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That sounds like a delicious pizza! Costco sells logs of goat cheese for $4-something, which is the best price I’ve seen ANYwhere. Trader Joe’s has a decent price, too, but still doesn’t compare to the costco price.
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Jessica Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
I love Costco for its cheap cheese.
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I wonder if a spinach pesto would work for this too? Looks tasty!
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Jessica Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Yes, definitely sub a diff kind of pesto if you like. Artichoke pesto from TJs would be good, too.
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Goat cheese is one of my favorite ways to make pizza night something a little special. This one looks wonderful!
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I saw this today, knew I was making homemade pesto for the first time, and made a version of this on baguettes instead of pizza dough. The best stuff ever. I think I could live on it
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Jessica Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
Yum!
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Was this pizza ever delic! We had it tonight and all four of us LOVED IT! I’ve never had such good response from all of them.
Thanks!
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I like to make chicken pizza with half alfredo sauce and half pesto, I’ll have to try it with goat cheese, that sounds good!
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I just happen to have some pesto that my brother gave me, and I think I will try this pizza this week. I love goat cheese too. Never thought about freezing it. I do freeze mozza cheese on a regular basis and cheddar occasionally. But never thought about goat cheese. Do you take it out of the wrapper to freeze it? Will have to try this!!
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Jessica Reply:
August 1st, 2010 at 7:54 am
They were small logs of goat cheese, so I just froze them in the package.
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